7.5

God of War Ascension is a third person action adventure game, in reality a bit of a hack and slash. Set in Ancient Greece it is loosely based upon the mythology of those times. The game was published by Sony Computer Entertainment and developed by Santa Monica Studio.

The list of characters reads like a Pantheon of Greek Gods. The main characters are Kratos, from Sparta, a region in ancient Greece, played by the user, who was once the servant of Ares the God of War, Ares. Then we have Orkos the oath keeper and the Furies, Megaera, Tisiphone and Alecto who are collectively the Gods of Honor and the enforcers of punishments. The Delphic Oracle, Aletheia, the twins Castor and Pollux, Zeus, the chief or father of the Gods, Poseidon the God of the Sea, Hades, the God of the Underworld, the Hero the mighty Hercules and the Cyclops Polyphemus along with others also feature but play smaller parts.

At the start of the game there is a short narrative giving the background to the story, but the story of the game begins with Kratos in chains being punished for breaking an oath he made to Ares as explained in the narrative prologue. With the assistance of various Gods, Kratos escapes but the narrative moves backwards to a time before Kratos was cast in chains. The story wanders around the locations of ancient Greece, visiting places such a Delphi and the Island of Delos, which are factual, and several more fictitious ones.

There are plenty of weapons on offer in God of War Ascension, Kratos has as his main weapon a pair of blades on the end of chains,the Blades of Chaos, whose use should be obvious, but he can also find and use others to be found dotted around the game's locations, but they last only for a limited amount of time and he is limited to owning a single weapon at any one time. The arsenal available to him include a sling, javelin or spear, a club, a sword and a defensive shield, and when weaponless he must resort to unarmed combat. Special abilities also feature such as the use of fire, lightning and magic and others that enhance the power of Kratos's own main weapon, the twin blades.

As well as combat there is also a puzzle solving aspect to the game sometimes involving the use of objects to make the progress of the main character easier or even possible. There is also a platforming element to the game whereby Kratos jumps across chasms and leaps over walls.

Their are also relics to be had which also have some unusual uses. These are an Amulet of Uroborus which can slow down enemy attacks for a limited period. The Oath Stone of Orkos lets Kratos be in two places at the same time and which can function something like an assistant where on pair of hands is not enough. The Eyes of Truth allow Kratos to distinguish reality from the illusions spun by the Furies.

The collection of objects also features in play and these objects are in the form of chests each of which contains Orbs which come in different colors, each colored Orb has its own use. With the use of these health can be topped up, weaponry upgraded and attacks made more intense. The player can also collect Phoenix Feathers and Gorgon Eyes which have their own power giving properties.

The many enemies include some of the entities from Greek Mythology such as the Gorgons, Sirens, Satyrs, Centaurs and Harpies which while not actually Gods did play a large part in the Myths of the time. There are also entities created for the game such as Juggernauts, which are to all intents and purposes Elephants, Wraiths and Manticores as well as hordes of parasitic insects. In a neat twist, under some circumstances, the larger of the creatures can be tamed for a time and ridden in battle against their former allies.

There is also an online muiltiplayer mode for up to eight players and consisting of four modes. These modes are Team Favor of the Gods, Trial of the Gods, Match of Champions and Capture the Flag.

The 'main' multiplayer mode is Team Favor of the Gods and in this mode two teams which can consist of up to four players per team play against each other as Trojans and Spartans and attempt to amass a predetermined total of points. Match of Champions similar to Team Favor but is not played as a team but can have between four and eight players competing.Trial of the Gods is a two player co-operative mode which is played against the clock and in which the creatures fought increase in strength over time, culminating in a major boss encounter at the end. the Capture the Flag mode The Spartans and Trojans compete to steal each others flags. Those who have played earlier God of War titles will recognize the maps for these modes as being taken from these earlier titles.

While the God of War series is not really regarded as highly as those such as Assassin's Creed, God of War Ascension certainly has a pretty good stab at rivaling them and does not fail completely. The story is a bit out of this world but that's Greek Mythology for you.